


A Father's Love

by TheGJ90



Category: Backyard Sports (Video Games)
Genre: Family, Family Feels, Family History, Father-Daughter Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Teddy Bears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 14:31:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16996797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGJ90/pseuds/TheGJ90
Summary: Luanne Lui, the youngest member of the Backyard Sports club, has carried her beloved teddy bear, Teddy, everywhere she goes.When the Delvecchio siblings visit her house, however, they find a little girl in tears over one thing;Teddy has gone missing!As they search for Lulu's precious toy, Tony eventually asks her mom a question that has been on his and Angela's minds for some time now;"What's so special about that bear?"The mother then tells the children the story of how Luanne and Teddy first met, thus explaining to both siblings just how much that bear means to her, and how a simple act, born from a father's love, can bring years of joy to his child.





	A Father's Love

**Author's Note:**

> Luanne Lui and Teddy are the inseparable duo of Backyard Sports. Whether he be in the form of a teddy bear or backpack, Teddy will always be by Luanne's side.
> 
> But what caused this friendship between child and toy to take place?
> 
> This is my idea on how it happened, and I hope that you enjoy reading it.
> 
> I certainly enjoyed writing it! :D

It should have been a typical day at the Luis' house. Well, it should have been for Angela Delvecchio, her big brother Tony, and their youngest friend Luanne Lui (Lulu to her friends and family). During a typical day when the siblings visit, Luanne was always the first to happily greet them at her front door, with her best friend Teddy, a well-cared for fluffy pink teddy bear of reasonable quality, wrapped lovingly in her right arm. The little girl was smaller than anyone else in the neighborhood (save for babies) and had long dark brown hair that was brushed down the back of her neck, light brown skin, slightly squinted hazel eyes, and the physical build that is expected of one so small and young. Her clothing consisted of a yellow short-sleeved shirt, green pants, and white sneakers. Her mother, obviously taller than the kids, always stood close behind her with a warm smile on her face when Lulu's friends showed up, to make sure that no trouble could come about from their arrival. The siblings would walk in and go with Luanne to her room to talk and play together. The mother trusted the older kids to watch over her daughter, as they had proven to her a while ago that they are responsible ones. They would talk about all kinds of things; sports, games, drawing (Lulu loved to color), the Backyard Sports club (a popular athletics club for kids that they were all a part of), and other assorted topics while pretending to drink tea with Teddy. This day of all days however, roughly five months before the club's first Backyard Baseball League season began, was atypical from the moment Angela knocked on the door. The eldest, Tony, was about one-half of a head taller than his sister, with white skin, black eyes, a skinny build for a body, and dark brown hair that was carefully groomed in the style of a noticeably large pompadour. His clothing consisted of a white sleeveless tank-top, dark-gray pants that were quite baggy, a brown belt that held his pants up, and red shoes with white shoelaces and highlights. Angela's hair was long, flowing, and groomed to travel down half of her back. Her skin was white as well, though with a very slightly darker tone than her brother's, and her build was not quite as skinny, yet far from large. Her eyes were brown and her clothing was less simplistic, consisting of casual overalls with a skirt long enough to reasonably keep her appearance decent, and white sneakers with black shoelaces. The door was opened by the mother a second after Angela knocked, her usual smile replaced with a serious frown. As for Lulu, her entire face was oozing with sadness as tears streamed down from her young face. She whimpered like any kid her age would in her position as she used all of her self-control to keep herself from crying out loudly. This sight shocked the Delvecchios, but what shocked them even more was what was missing from this scene; Teddy was not in Lulu's right arm, or anywhere within sight, this time.

Angela was the first to react, for she slowly got down on her right knee, reached out to Luanne with both hands, and asked her with concern in her voice and worry in her eyes;

"Do you want a hug, little Lulu?"

Angela, better than most kids her age, knew what it was like to be hurt enough to want to cry one's heart out, and she loved Lulu to pieces, so she had plenty of reason to help her. Tony followed along with her, looking to support both his sister and their friend. Tony, you see, was well known throughout the neighborhood for making one snarky remark after another while bragging about how cool he was. But here, on this day, he knew better than to run his mouth when faced with a crying child. Delvecchios were raised to be better than that, after all. A confident smile crept onto his face as he told Lulu with a combination of concern and a hint of that self-confidence that both he and his sister had always shared;

"Good ol' Tony will hug you too, if you want."

The sight of her friends offering her their help was enough to get Luanne to run into Angela with the speed of a rocket and hold her as tightly as her little arms could allow her to. Angela wrapped her arms around her gently, silently letting her know that she was safe and sound, that it was okay for her to let her feelings out. Tony then made it a point to hug them both from Angela's left side, wanting Lulu to know that he was there for her too, though he was too proud and stubborn to admit it out loud. The older kids and the mother could hear Lulu sniff repeatedly into Angela's chest as Tony then asked with concern in his voice;

"Now, who or what made you cry, Lulu?"

"Where is Teddy?" asked Angela sweetly, confusion filling her voice as she continued;

"I have never seen you two apart... ever."

"I don't think anyone has seen you two apart." noted Tony calmly. As it turned out, however, asking about Luanne's bear was both a good and a bad idea. Good, because her sadness was connected to that bear. Bad, because asking her about it was enough to cause her to break down and cry audibly. Amidst the wailing and whimpering, a certain set of words could be heard from her mouth as she spoke with the shaking voice of a heartbroken child, her difficulties with correctly pronouncing her ‘ls’ and ‘rs’ made quite apparent with each word that she slowly uttered;

"Teddy... poor... wittle... Teddy... is... is..."

She was clearly having a heck of a time with finishing her sentence, as if attempting to do so was bringing her great emotional pain. Angela was quick to recognize this as she gently rubbed her back with her right hand, stroked her hair with her left, and softly encouraged Lulu to continue speaking;

"Take your time, Luanne. We're listening to-".

"MISSING!", cried Lulu, interrupting Angela with a voice that bellowed out with the volume needed for it to be heard from a couple of blocks away as she finished with painful sadness filling every syllable, even as her tone decreased in volume;

"Teddy is missing!"

Her cry had taken both siblings aback, for a moment or two, before they simultaneously tightened their shared hug just a little to help Luanne calm down. Angela then gave her some honest, comforting words in a soft voice;

"There, there, little firecracker. Let's get inside the house and then you can tell us everything, okay?"

"... Okay, Angewa." responded Lulu in a quiet, pained voice as they all got up and walked through the opened front doorway one at a time, with her mother leading the pack. Clearly, the older girl's words were enough to calm the little one down a bit. Lulu was rubbing her tears out of her eyes with her right arm as she walked in, with Angela walking ahead of her. Tony was the last one to walk into the house as he closed the door behind him.

The front door led into the living room, which contained a small wooden oval table sitting in the middle, a large silver flat-screen TV hanging on the wall to the door's far right side, two burgundy red reclining chairs sitting next to each other while facing the table from the right side of the TV, and a large burgundy red couch resting along the front window of the house while facing the TV and table. Under the furniture was an oak wood floor with a dark green carpet situated under the table. The walls were painted with a pleasant light brown color that stood out from the floor without becoming too distracting. Tony and Angela escorted Luanne over to the couch so that they could sit together, with Angela on the left side, Tony on the right, and little Lulu in the middle. Her mother chose to sit on the chair that was the closest to the couch, to make sure that she was as close to her daughter as possible. At this point, Lulu was still sniffing, but not quite as much as she was earlier. Tears could still be seen coming down from her eyes as she took several deep breaths in order to recollect herself. After taking a few minutes to silently wait for the little girl to recover, her mother than asked in a soothing voice that only a parent could utilize in situations like this;

"Do you want to tell your friends about what happened, Luanne?"

Luanne nodded while saying in a sad voice;

"Uh huh..."

She then looked over to each of her friends, who were looking back at her with kind smiles on their faces, and told them the truth with sadness still in her voice, even though she can speak more easily at this point;

"I was pwaying with Te..."

She took another breath before continuing;

"Teddy... yesterday. We wewe spinning awound outside, dancing on the gwass, having tea in my woom, all the fun stuff that we wove to do evewyday."

A smile crept upon her face as she remembered the good times that she spent with her beloved friend. That smile endured as she continued to recall the story with an increasingly chipper voice;

"Yesterday, we pwayed a wittle too hard and Teddy got weawwy messy. He got dirt on his head, bewwy, wegs, and his paws. So, I asked Mama if she could get him aww nice and cwean, and Mama can cwean up Teddy weawwy good!"

At this point, Lulu's smile had grown to be so bright and cheery, that everyone else in the room felt more at ease when they saw it. Her tears had stopped falling, but her eyes were still watery. She looked right at her mom as she spoke with a loving look in her eyes, the kind that only a child could give to their parents. Her mom smiled right back at her, willing to enjoy every instance of her daughter being happy that she could get. The young girl then looked back at her friends and continued;

"I was also reawwy dirty and tired, so I took my bath and went to bed."

Her smile quickly turned into a frown as her voice transitioned into a soft whimper;

"I thought that Teddy was gonna be sweeping in my arms when I woke up but..."

Tears began to fall from her eyes again as she exclaimed in a hurt tone;

"He wasn't there! He wasn't anywhere!"

It was now the mother's turn to comfort her child, for she ran right up to a crying Lulu and stroked her hair with her right hand as she spoke again in that soothing motherly voice;

"There, there, my little sweetheart. I am sorry that I lost Teddy."

"I'm not mad at Mama, Mama! I just want Teddy to be safe!", Lulu quickly responded as she gently grabbed her face, not wanting her mom to feel guilty over this predicament, in spite of her own troubles.

The Delvecchio siblings knew at that moment what had to be done, and Angela was the first one to get the ball rolling as she spoke with calm surety in her voice;

"Say no more, Lulu. We'll help you find Teddy."

"Yeah, you take it from the both of us;", Tony declared with pride as he lightly pounded his chest with his right fist;

"that bear will be in your arms today."

Luanne's smile returned with a vengeance in response to her friends' shared declaration as she turned back towards them and gave each of them big, loving hugs while telling them with joy oozing out of every word that she spoke;

"Thank you so much, now you two get huggies!"

The mother could not help but giggle at the sight of Lulu showing love for her friends as she spoke;

"Now Lulu, when you find your bear, make sure to give him a hug too, okay?"

Lulu then turned back over to her mom and responded with that same joyful voice;

"Yes, Mama. Oh, and I awmost forgot..."

Lulu began to smile with a hint of anticipation in her eyes. Her mother braces herself, knowing full-well what was to come as Lulu finished;

"about you!"

She then jumped off of the couch and right into her mother's arms, essentially pouncing her with a hug that made her mother laugh out of joy. Lulu then loudly declared with hope in her voice and heart;

"My next hug is for you, Teddy!"

With that, the search for Teddy began.

The Delvecchio siblings began scouring the living room for any sign of the bear, while Luanne ran right for the nearby bathroom to search for Teddy there. Her mother decided to help the young guests search by looking behind, into, and under anything in the room that she could find, while making sure to keep her eyes and ears open for any potential daughter-related emergencies by frequently checking the bathroom to see if Lulu was okay. She was a little girl, after all, and her mother's duty was to keep her safe. As the search continued, Tony decided to make conversation with the mother as he knelled down to look under the couch;

"Ya know, Mrs. Lui, your kid has carried Teddy around everywhere she goes. Heck, she even holds him in her hands while she's batting in Baseball matches!"

The mother looked right at Tony, smiling at the thought of her daughter sharing her fun with her favorite toy, while also curious as to what Tony was getting at. Angela, who was looking under the chair on her left, could not help but chuckle a little as the memories of Lulu playing with her bear as she walked up to home-plate came up in her head. The little girl, she recalled, liked to keep Teddy from falling off of her bat, even as she moved around in circles for a bit before stopping at plate to catch him and give a loving hug before taking her batting stance, with Teddy in her hands.

"Yeah, she tells everyone that Teddy is her good-luck charm.", Angela explained calmly before asking Tony;

"Your point being, Vec?"

Tony then pulled himself out from under the couch to stand up, turn to face his sister, and respond in a calm fashion with a hint of confusion in his voice;

"My point, Sugar Pop, is that while I don't have a problem with little kids playing with their toys, I have never seen any kid love their toys like Luanne loves that bear of hers. So..."

He then turned his head over to the mother, who was listening intently to the conversation, and asks;

"What's so special about that bear?"

"Yeah, I've been curious about that too." noted Angela, who stopped searching as well to focus on the conversation for a moment.

The two of them were looking right at the mother as she began to express a gentle smile, her eyes lit up as she thought back to fond memories of happier times and decided to herself;

_"Yes, I think it’s time that I told this story to at least some of Luanne's friends."_

She then took a deep breath, her smile refusing to leave her face as she then told the two siblings;

"Well then, I'll tell you all while we are searching for him, deal?"

Angela and Tony then went right back to looking for Teddy, while making sure to listen to the story to come. When the mother went to the bathroom door to listen to Lulu's progress, she could hear the not-so-subtle sounds of cupboards being opened and closed, the toilet seat being lifted and lowered loudly, and the hurried stomping of the little girl's feet as she maneuvered her way through the bathroom. The mother then opened the door to get a closer look, only to find that Lulu was trying to climb up to the windowsill on wall over the bath tub that was positioned at the end of the room. Without a moment's hesitation, she rushed in to carefully grab her daughter and gently put her feet back on the ground before she could fall and hurt herself. Needless to say, her mom was not too happy about what she had almost done, not angry per say, but worried and disappointed at the same time. Once she was certain that Luanne was safe, she made it a point to ask her in that stern motherly tone that could make wise children tremble;

"Now, why in the world would you try to climb up to the windowsill, Luanne?"

Lulu was confused and a little afraid of the stern look on her mom's face as she responded nervously;

"I... wanted to wook out the window to see if Teddy is outside."

Her mom was quick to explain the danger involved with her daughter's choice;

"You could have fallen and hurt yourself, young lady. You made me worried about you, and I know Teddy would be worried too."

That was all that the little one needed to hear to understand what she did wrong, for clearly felt bad about what she had tried to do as she responded with an upset tone in her voice;

"Oh no, I don't want to make the both of you wowwied!"

The mother then expressed another gentle smile that soothed Lulu a little as she gave her a hug while speaking in that sweet voice that only a mother could deliver to her child;

"Now, you better be more careful while looking for Teddy, okay my dear?"

Lulu nodded her head with a smile in response, feeling a lot better now that her mom is not upset with her anymore. The two then walked back into the living room side-by-side as the mother announced;

"Luanne is going to help you with your search while I tell you all the story."

Luanne's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree in the dark as she then looked over to her mom and asked her with excitement oozing from her voice;

"You mean you are gonna tell them THE stowy!?"

At this point, her little body was shaking in anticipation of her mother's answer, which she then delivered in a gentle, patient voice. It was, much to her Lulu's joy, the one that she was hoping for;

"Oh yes, sweetie, _that_ story. But do be a good person and help your friends while I tell it, okay?"

"Yes Mama!", said Lulu, with jubilant gusto in her voice as she then ran to the siblings to join them in their search. Truthfully, Luanne did not need much encouragement to help with the search for her Teddy, and her mom understood this. But, in her mind, a little encouragement would not hurt.

The mother then decided to look under the table while Lulu helped Angela with the chair and Tony looked under the couch some more. As she searched, she took a breath, thought of her daughter and how much she loved her, and began to tell the tale;

"This is a story that all Luis know by heart, especially Luanne. This is the story of how Lulu and Teddy first met..."

**Three years ago – As Narrated by Mrs. Lui**

Three years ago, Luanne had her mother as well as her father in her life. That little girl loved us both dearly and still does today, but goodness, it was almost impossible to pull her away from her father back then. They played together, ate together, and traveled together, like two peas in a pod, really. Now, her father is everything a good parent should be; kind, understanding, protective of his family, loving, an active listener, a hard worker, willing to teach his kid all the right lessons, and unquestionably dependable. So, you can bet that he loves Lulu to bits and that he has earned her love in return. But, it pains me say, her father has more than just his duties as both parent and husband to fulfill, for he is also a soldier; a person who has sworn to defend his home and country when called to fight in its name. When the call to arms rang throughout the country, he knew that his time to depart was approaching, but he also understood that his departure would break our daughter’s heart, and he would never allow that to happen. So, he and I had a long talk and agreed to a plan that, if it worked, would bring joy to our child’s life while he was gone.

Long before he had received the letter that would contain his orders to ship out, the father drove his car over to the local toy store while Lulu and I went grocery shopping, all without her even knowing what we were planning to do. He looked all over that store for, in his mind, the one toy that would keep Luanne company, a friend that she could love and turn to for support in his absence. He looked at action figures, dolls, toy vehicles, and even handheld gaming devices, none of them caught his eye. But that changed when he went into the last aisle that he had yet to go to. This one consisted of rows upon rows of teddy bears on every shelf of the aisle! There were white ones, blue ones, orange ones, and yellow ones. Just by looking at those bears, he knew that somewhere in that area was the right toy for our Lulu. So, he walked down that aisle slowly, carefully inspecting each and every bear on the shelves on each side. They all came very close to being the toy that he was looking for, but not close enough. He was about to give up hope when, as he stepped out from the end of the aisle, he saw on the corner of his left eye something that caught his attention, something pink. He then looked to his left to find a single pink teddy bear sitting by itself on one of those fancy cardboard stands that are used to advertise toys. He stared at that bear for a whole minute before taking a breath and deciding that this toy was the one that he would pick. I remember him explaining to me later on that when he saw that bear for the first time, something in his mind told him that there was something special, something truly good, about that one. With that, he asked the nearest store employee if he could buy it for his daughter, who then told him that it was a promotional item that was not for sale. That husband of mine would not let that stand, however. He then explained to the employee that he was a soldier who could actually be sent to fight soon, and he wanted nothing more than to make sure that his daughter would not be heartbroken over him leaving by giving her a toy that could give her years’ worth of joy while he was gone. That pink bear, in his eyes, was that toy, and darn it all, he was going to buy it for her!

The employee, moved by his heartfelt words, called for the manager to come by and help. After the two of them explained the situation, the manager then thanked the father for his service and noted that the pink bear was a one-of-a-kind item, for no other bear was ever made in that color by the company that crafted it. He was then given a fair price for purchasing the bear. He agreed, paid the price, grabbed the bear, and went on home after thanking the manager and employee for their help. A week later, the letter had come to the father, just as he had feared; it was time for him to go off to fight for his country. But we had already prepared for this, for during that week, he had put the bear in a box and wrapped it up in pink wrapping paper, with me hiding it from Lulu shortly after. Right on the day when he was supposed to leave home, we all met at the living room one last time. At this point, Lulu knew and understood that he was going away for a long time. She did not understand why back then, she was just a little girl after all, and she did not want him to leave. She hugged him, kissed him, and tried to pull on him, making it clear without saying a word how much she was going to miss him. But as much as it pained him to leave, he knew he had to. But before he did, he picked up Lulu, cradled her in his arms to calm her down, and asked me to grab something for him. I knew exactly what he meant. I ran to the box’s hiding spot, picked it up, and brought it over to Lulu, who was very curious about what she was seeing. Her father then told his daughter in a calm, soothing voice with a gentle look in his eyes as he looked closely at her;

“This is your present from me, Lulu.”

She smiled happily at the thought of getting a gift from her old man as he gently put her down on floor so that she could crawl up to the box, which I had put on the floor in front of her. She looked at it for a second or two before ripping the paper off with her little hands while giggling over the fun that she was having. With the paper off, she then lifted the lid off of the box to find the pink teddy bear laying on its back, as if the fluffball was looking right at her. Her father then proudly announced:

“Say hello to your new little friend: a teddy bear!”

Her smile grew bigger than it ever did at any other point in her life before then or since as she reached into the box, pulled out the bear, and inspected him carefully with her eyes. I then noted calmly as I watched her carefully;

“Now all he needs is a name.”

At this point, Lulu was so young that she had only recently spoken her first and second words, which were ‘mama’ and ‘daddy’. From the moment I had finished speaking, however, she waited for five seconds of silence before trying successfully to utter her third word;

“Te… Ted… Teddy…”

She then gave her new toy a big hug while yelling out gleefully;

“Teddy!”

Her father and I smiled happily at the sight, content with that fact that our Lulu was happy, and speaking more than two words, of course. The little girl then ran up to give each of us a big hug too, her Teddy held tightly in her right hand as she did so. Her father was the last to get a hug, and clearly it was biggest one she gave. After the hugs, he then got down on one knee, looked Lulu in the eye and told her with honesty and love in his voice;

“Listen up, my dearest Lulu.”

Her eyes were locked on his as he continued, the eyes of the father and her little girl becoming increasingly watery;

“Teddy is your special friend that I am giving to you, so that you will always remember me and how much I love you. You be good to him and he’ll be good to you. Okay?”

At this point, those two were about ready to cry as Lulu nodded her young head. As young as she was, she understood just enough of what he had said to get the meaning behind his words. They then gave each other one last hug while they both cried, Teddy and all. After that, we said our goodbyes, he gave Lulu and me a goodbye kiss, and left us all behind. Lulu would show Teddy love every day from that point on, and through that pink bear, she would always remember her father and how much he loves her.

**Present Day**

The mother had shut her eyes early on in the telling of the tale, so that she could more easily remember the details. Once she had finished the story, she opened up her eyes to look at each of the kids. Lulu was silently looking for Teddy while her mom was talking, but stopped for a moment after she had finished to look back at her with a sweetest of smiles on her face, no tears this time. Angela and Tony, who were standing motionless while staring at the mother with solemn looks of understanding at this point, had stopped searching at around the half-way point of the story, for they considered it too important to miss. They then turned their heads toward each other and nodded in silent agreement. Angela was the first to speak up, this time in a voice that oozed with seriousness in every syllable;

“You go search the kitchen, Tony. I’ve got the living room.”

“You got it, sis.”, Tony responded with that same serious tone.

He then moved on over to the kitchen, which was connected to the living room via a doorway with a wooden gate that stood half as tall as the doorway itself to the front door's left side. He opened the gate and closed it behind him before making his rounds. Angela then looked over to Lulu, who then looked back at her. The older girl then walked up to the little one, gave her a hug, and told her with sadness and honesty in her voice;

“I am sorry about your dad.”

“Awww, its okay Angewa!”, exclaimed Lulu, with a surprisingly cheerful voice, considering the situation, as she continued;

“I know Daddy will come home, and Teddy helps me wemember him while he is away. Teddy is such a good fwiend, and when Daddy comes home, we’ll give him a wewwy, wewwy, _wewwy_ , big hug!”

After letting go of Lulu, Angela then declared with that confidence that her friends and family know so well;

“Well then, we better get working on finding Teddy! He is your special friend, you know, and I am sure that your Dad would love to see you carrying him around when he gets home.”

Lulu then nodded happily, grabbed Angela by her right hand with her own, and took over to the kitchen while declaring with cheer in her voice;

“Let’s go help Tony in the kitchen!”

Angela had no objections to that idea, for she was more insistent than ever on helping her friend at this point in time. Lulu’s mother saw what was happening and was quick to follow the two girls from behind.

They looked all over that kitchen, but no sign of Teddy could be found there. As they finished, Tony then asked the mother;

“Where was the last place you saw Teddy? I remember Lulu saying that you cleaned him up, so-”.

His words were enough to jog her memory, as she then exclaimed in sudden realization while cutting him off;

“Oh gosh, I know where I left him! Follow me everyone!”

They all then walked over to the stairs that led down into the basement level of the house, which were situated at the upper right-side corner of the kitchen. After carefully walking down the stairs, with Lulu walking between her mom and Angela to keep her from slipping, the mother then ran over to a green open laundry basket that was filled to the brim with clean clothes. It was standing in front of the dryer, with the washer next to the dryer to its right side, and a large, brown, empty table standing behind the basket. She stopped up close to the basket and turned around to face the kids, who were standing next to each other while feeling a tad confused. The siblings were the first of them to realize what was up. Angela responded with a knowing smile, while Tony could not help but laugh a little. Lulu was still confused, but her mother noticed this right away, for she then pointed at the basket with her left index finger and told her daughter with a smile on her face, joy echoing out from her voice as she spoke;

“Go get him, Lulu!”

Her confusion vanished in an instant upon hearing those words, replaced a smile that could be best described as infectiously happy as she ran past her mom and over to the basket with the speed of a tiny race car. She then jumped into the basket legs-first, causing it to shake a little as she fell safely into the clean laundry. The others could see her little head poking out as she dug through the clothing while giggling happily, with some articles of clothing flying off to the side and onto the floor as she worked. She was clearly having the time of her life, and for good reason too, for it only took her five seconds to pull Teddy out from the pile while yelling out in pure, unrelenting happiness;

“TEDDY!”

She then gave him a loving hug as promised, with her mother and friends cheering her on in celebration. After Lulu got out of the basket, with help from the siblings, her mom then apologized to her daughter with a look of embarrassment on her face as she looked over at her;

“I am sorry for leaving Teddy in that basket. I could have sworn that I took him out of it.”

“Oh, Mama, you are so siwwy!”, Lulu responded with a giggle as she hugged her left leg with Teddy held tightly in her right hand. She never did give her a hard time for leaving Teddy in that basket, for she was raised too well by her parents to hate her over something like that.

The mother then gently put her right hand on Lulu’s head as she turned her head to look at each of the older kids and said with relief;

“Thank you two for your help, we really appreciate it.”

“It was no problem,”, said Tony, his good nature, and a bit of his ego, showing strongly in his voice as he continued;

“That bear helps our little friend here remember her dad, that makes him important to her and your family.”

“Yeah, and family means everything to us Delvecchios.”, noted Angela with a smile, her own good nature showing just as strongly in her voice as she finished;

“So, we understand how much Teddy means to you both.”

She then got down her right knee as she looked over to Lulu, her smile as big as it was earlier, as she then asked the little girl and her pink fluffy friend;

“Now then, little firecracker, do you and Teddy want to go outside and play ball? Our club’s first season is coming up, and we all need to be ready for it.”

Lulu did not need to be asked twice as she declared in a loud, cheerful voice;

“That sounds like fun! Come on Teddy, let’s pway ball!”

The three kids, bear and all, then ran up the stairs with Lulu’s mother following close behind them. Today was not a typical day for any of these people, but it was certainly a memorable one for everyone involved.

**Author's Note:**

> As you can see, Luanne is one of my favorite characters in the series, not just because she exudes an endless abundance of cuteness, but also because of how much she loves and appreciates her Teddy and the people around her. I just can't help but love the little bun-bun, you know? I have a strong fondness for all of the kids in the series, so I saw this as a good opportunity to let two more of them get some character development of their own.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed reading my really long tale. Constructive criticism is always welcome.
> 
> Lulu, what do you say to the nice readers?
> 
> Luanne: Thank you for weading the stowy! Teddy thanks you too!
> 
> I just could not resist, could I? :D


End file.
